Dauber having spherical valve head



July 6, 1965 s. SCHWARTZMAN 3,19

DAUBER HAVING SPHERIGAL VALVE HEAD Filed March 21, 1965 INVENTOR. 4/4652 Sam/4222091 United States Patent 3 192 553 DAUBER HAVlNG srnisnrcar. VALVE nnan Gilbert Schwartzman, Scarszlale, N.Y., assignor to Glide- S-Matic Corp, Yonkers, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 266,940 2 Claims. (Cl. -566) This application is a continuation-in-part of the application Serial No. 856,424, filed December 1, 1959, for Dauber, now Patent No. 3,084,375.

This invention relates to a dauber especially adapted for use in applying shoe polish or for applying cosmetics or medications on the shoes, clothing or on the person of the user.

An object of this invention resides in the provision of means for facilitating the application of cosmetics, medications, shoe polish or the like.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision in a dauber of novel valve means which are automatically actuated and adapted to control the flow of shoe polish from the dauber for obtaining an even flow of shoe polish onto a shoe, independent of the contours or shape of the shoe and so that fluid flow may be conveniently had onto the outer surface of the dauber for applying shoe polish into crevices, corners, and other spaces where access is diflicult, while assuring complete closing of the valve means when the dauber is not in use.

In the past daubers have been produced which are provided with applicator ends serving to actuate mechanical valves. However, these prior art valve members normally have a surface area which is relatively small, and

it has been very diflicult to obtain proper sealing of the valve to prevent undesired fluid flow when the dauber is not in use, especially when travelling or when the dauber is packed in other than an upright position. Shoe polish, cosmetics and medications will often stain garments and other items closely adjacent thereto if there is any spillage.

It is, therefore, a further object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art daubers, by preventing leaking or spilling and providing for better control of fluid flow of the shoe polish being applied while also assuring that the shoe polish will be spread evenly along the entire surface being covered by the dauber.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of a dauber which includes a novel spherical valve head disposed between the dauber cover and the valve actuating spring, which spherical valve head will permit fluid flow from the container to the cover when the cover is depressed yet which will assure a proper seal when the dauber is not in use even when molded plastic springs are employed.

Still further objects and features of this invention reside in the provision of a dauber which is inexpensive to manufacture, simple to use, capable of metering fluid of various viscosities in an effective manner so that the dauber is especially adapted for use in applying shoe polish, medications, cosmetics, oils, polishes and the like, and which dauber may be made in any convenient size as desired.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of the invention which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by this dauber, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way of example only, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded sectional view of the elements of an illustrative embodiment of the dauber;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the as- 3,192,553 Patented July 6, 1965 sembled dauber and further illustrating the valve in a closed position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 but illustrating the dauber in use with the valve open;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the dauber taken along the plane of line 44 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the dauber looking along line 55 in FIG. 2 with parts broken away showing other parts in section for detail.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, reference numeral 16 is used to generally designate the dauber comprising the present invention. This dauber includes a container 12 in which a retaining ring 14 is positioned. The retaining ring is designed to fit in the neck of the contaner 12 and includes flange 16 provided with a swaged lip 18 for retaining a disc 20 in position between the lip 18 and a rib 22 of circular configuration.

The disc 20 is constructed of two layers, the upper layer 21 of which is formed of nylon knitted brushed fabric so as to achieve a felt-like applicator surface and appearance, while having the chemical inertness and strength of nylon. Laminated and bonded to the nylon knitted brush fabric is the lower comparatively very thick layer 23 of coarse polyurethane foam.

The retaining ring 14 is provided with a thick web 26 which has an arcuate tapered or truncated opening 28 therein which is of approximately one-half the diameter of the web 26. The peripheral edges 29 bounding the opening 28 are flexible, FIG. 3. Cooperating with the arcuate tapered opening 23, which serves as a valve seat, is the spherical valve member 30. The spherical valve member may be formed of a ball of synthetic plastic material. It has also been found that very desirable sealing results are attained through the use of a metal ball such as stainless steel or the like which is quite heavy. The valve member 30 is carried by a conical carrier 24 having a spring 32 formed in helical coils integrally therewith. The lower end 38 of the spring 32 is integrally formed with a disc 36 held in place on the projecting portion 49 of the retaining ring 14 by the swaged end 42 of the projecting portion 40. The swaged end 42 thus retains the valve member 30 Within the retaining ring 14 with the spring 32 in a continuously stressed condition under compression so that the valve member 30 is continuously urged into and partially through the opening 28 pressing in a tight sealing manner against the edges or lips 29 for the purpose of closing the opening and preventing fluid flow from the container 12 into the space between the Web 25 of the retaining ring 14 and the cover 25. The valve member 30 continuously engages the foam layer 23.

The carrier 24 is of a truncated conical shape having a hollow 25 and a recess or concavity 27 in which said spherical valve member seats firmly.

When the dauber 10 is used for applying shoe polish or other fluids, the cover 20 is depressed, forcing the foam layer 23 inwardly and opening the valve by depressing the valve member 30 to permit passage of fluid in a direction indicated by arrows A, FIG. 3, whereby fluid will not only saturate the polyurethane foam layer 23 but will saturate the cover 20. Since the inner or lower layer 23 is of a polyurethane foam, it will absorb and retain sufiicient fluid so that the dauber will be able to provide a uniform coating of shoe polish on the surface being treated.

The lips 29 will engage the foam layer and when the valve member 30 is in a closed position will engage a considerable area of the valve member 30 ensuring a good seal.

The cover 20 may be stretched to assume various shapes. It has been found that for application of shoe polish, a hemispherical shape is preferred because otherwise hard to reach places can be easily given an adequate coating of shoe polish.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure, and in some instances some features of the invention Will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be com strued broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

I claim:

1. A dauber comprising a retainer ring having a projecting portion, a relatively thick disc-shaped cover secured to said ring, said ring having an opening therein forming a valve seat, valve means including a spherical valve member movable with respect to said valve seat to control fluid flow through said opening, said valve means further including helical coils engaging said projecting portion and a valve carrier of truncated conical shape of one piece construction with said helical coils, said valve carrier having a recess therein forming a seat for said spherical valve member, said helical coils urging said spherical valve member against said cover, and against said valve seat, said cover being depressible to depress said spherical valve member away from said valve seat against the force exerted by said helical coils, said valve seat including a resilient flexible peripheral lip portion.

2. A dauber according to claim 1 wherein said cover is of a two-ply laminated material including an upper thin layer of nylon knitted brushed fabric and a lower thick layer of coarse polyurethane foam bonded to said upper layer.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,853,728 9/58 Nadai 15-565 2,974,350 3/61 Schwartzman 15-566 2,999,266 9/61 Rosenthal 15S81 X 3,084,375 4/63 Schwartzman 15-581 X CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DAUBER COMPRISING A RETAINER RING HAVING A PROJECTING PORTION, A RELATIVELY THICK DISC-SHAPED COVER SECURED TO SAID RING, SAID RING HAVING AN OPENING THEREIN FORMING A VALVE SEAT, VALVE MEANS INCLUDING A SPHERICAL VALVE MEMBER MOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID VALVE SEAT TO CONTROL FLUID FLOW THROUGH SAID OPENING, SAID VALVE MEANS FURTHER INCLUDING HELICAL COILS ENGAGING SAID PROJECTING PORTION AND A VALVE CARRIER OF TRUNCATED CONICAL SHAPE OF ONE PIECE CONSTRUCTION WITH SAID FORMING A SEAT FOR VALVE CARRIER HAVING A RECESS THEREIN FORMING A SEAT FOR SAID SPHERICAL VALVE MEMBER, SAID HELICAL COILS URGING SAID SHPERICAL VALVE MEMBER AGAINST SAID COVER, AND AGAINST SAID VALVE SEAT, SAID COVER BEING DEPRESSIBLE TO DEPRESS SAID SPHERICAL VALVE MEMBER AWAY FROM SAID VALVE SEAT AGAINST THE FORCE EXERTED BY SAID HELICAL COILS, SAID VALVE SEAT INCLUDING A RESILIENT FLEXIBLE PERIPHERICAL LIP PORTION. 